Specialisation

Specialisation

3a) In the household Kelly and Steve share, Kelly is good at cleaning the bathroom and doesn’t mind dusting, but is useless at vacuuming, while Steve is good at vacuuming, getting all the spots that Kelly misses, eg. The ceiling, but can’t dust or clean the bathroom.

i) If Kelly was left to do all the housework, the bathroom will be clean and the dust gone, but there will be lots of things missed by the vacuum cleaner, eg. Spiders on the ceiling.

ii) If Steve was left to do all the housework, the vacuuming will be done well, but the dusting and bathrooms will be poorly done.

iii) For maximum efficiency and the greatest effectiveness, the household could be organised so that Kelly does all the dusting and cleans all the bathrooms, and Steve does all the vacuuming. With these rules set down, each person does what they are best at, in other words, they are specialising.

4a) Specialisation and division of labour are two different and separate things:

Specialisation- This is when people concentrate on one main job or function, usually what they are best/good at.

Division of Labour- This occurs in many production processes where workers do one part of the total process.

bi) An example of a workplace where division of labour is likely to occur is a toy making factory. Each worker does one part of the overall process that is making the toys.

ii) In a toy making factory, workers do different jobs, eg. One person checks the state of the toy, another attaches the parts together, and another worker packages the toy.

5a) The terms ‘dependent’, ‘independent’ and ‘interdependent’ have different meanings. Dependent means depending on others for different things, eg. A paraplegic depending on others to push their wheelchair. Independent means not depending on others for anything, being self-sufficient, eg. A farmer grows crops for his own family, not needing anyone else’s help to provide for himself and his family. Interdependent means relying on each other. Eg. A community specialises and does